Monday, June 6, 2016

The Universe In Four Minutes

A new zoom movie was created and posted by YouTuber Exurb1a.


This joins the pantheon of humorous zooms, such as "This is Frank" by Grigas.

Exurb1a's humorous zoom goes in this order:

  • Planck length

    • Neutrino
    • Quarks
    • Neutron, Proton, Electron
    • Atom
    • Helium, Hydrogen...
    • Forces, Strong, Weak, EM and Gravity
    • Standard Model
    • Quantum Physics vs Relitavistic Physics
    • DNA: ATCG
    • Cells: Red, White
    • Rain drops
    • Hacky Sacks
    • Nike Socks
    • Humans
    • Blue Whales
    • Norway
    • Comet, Meteor
    • Moon
    • Earth as a whole
    • Solar System
    • Sun (Sol)
    • Single Star, Binary Star, Trinary star systems
    • Milky Way
    • Nebulae
    • Black Hole
    • All Galaxies
    • Universe, 93BLY across
    • Parallel Universes
    • Hidden Dimensions in Space
    It then does an even quicker pan across the Universe's timeline, covering
    • Big Bang
    • Galaxy spawning
    • Life
    • Dinosaurs
    • Dinosaur extinction
    • Humanity

    Saturday, June 16, 2012

    Chronozoom Zooms Billions of Years

    Chronozoom is an open source community project dedicated to visualizing Big History. Its zoomable interface is a good application of a ZUI (Zoomable User Interface). The economist writes:

    With ZUIs (pronounced zoo-ees), information need not be chopped up to fit on uniformly sized slides. Instead, text, images and even video sit on a single, limitless surface and can be viewed at whatever size makes most sense—up close for details, or zoomed out for the big picture. The presentation software designed by Prezi, a firm based in Budapest, Hungary, is based on this kind of “infinite canvas”, as its founder, Peter Halacsy, calls it. For example, a naturalist delivering a presentation on giraffe habitats can tuck tables on, say, the nutritional qualities of foliage into the leaves of different tree species seen in satellite imagery of a savanna. The data could be left hidden for a talk to schoolchildren, or zoomed in on and revealed for an audience of scientists. Before giving a talk, a presenter can pick waypoints on the canvas to be visited in sequence by pressing a button, with smooth pans, zooms and rotations from one to the next. 
    Raskin, SketchHub and Grape are other ZUIs--Florian Gunther maintains a good list of them here.

    Chronozoom is funded and supported by Microsoft Research Connections in collaboration with University California at Berkeley and Moscow State University.

    Links:
    Chronozoom, http://www.chronozoomproject.org
    Prezi, http://www.prezi.com
    The economist article, Prophets of Zoom: http://www.economist.com/node/21556097
    Gunther on Zuis: http://florianguenther.com/zui/

    Sunday, May 6, 2012

    Comparing Gigawatt Electric Plants with Hiroshima

    By definition, it is hard to comprehend other orders of magnitude--their very label "order of magnitude" points to their otherness and separateness. But the news is full of information from other orders of magnitude. To serve their readers, journalists and other authors recruit metaphors to explain this information from foreign scales.

    A staff writer in the Economist's special report on nuclear reactors used such metaphors to explain the power of gigawatt reactors:

    The energy output of that first reactor was tiny: just half a watt. Today’s most powerful reactors produce ten billion times as much energy in the form of heat, about a third of which can be converted into electricity. Five gigawatts is an amount beyond easy comprehension, the daily equivalent of the energy given off by six bombs like the one that destroyed Hiroshima. 


    The math seems wrong to me, here. A 5 GW plant in a day yields 4.32 x 10^14 Joules. According to the Manhattan Project memorial site, the Little Boy Hiroshima bomb yielded 15 kilotons of explosive energy, or 6.276 x 10^16 Joules. So a 5 GW plant, in a day, releases the energy of 2/3rds of a Hiroshima bomb.

    The Hiroshima Bomb has become a defacto unit of measurement for comparisons like this. Unfortunately, the scale is radically different. The bomb completed its energy release in under a second, while a power plant works for billions of seconds; the bomb radiated energy in all directions while powerplant energy is measured only as per the useful energy generated in a wire, and so on.

    The author then uses similar metaphors to describe the rapid historical growth of nuclear technology.  
    If flights had lasted a billion times longer 70 years after the Wright brothers’ first one took off, they would have gone a thousand times round the world and taken centuries; a billion times faster, and they would have run up against the speed of light. Even at the heady rates of progress that Moore’s law ascribes to the computer industry (stating that the number of transistors on a chip doubles roughly every two years), things take 60 years to get a billion times better.
    This is an innovative comparison, and works due to the nature of "a billion." People are often surprised that a billion seconds takes over 31 years to elapse. Again, the change in scale is poorly understood.

    NOTE: This post starts a new series of posting metaphors, with our commentary or critique. If you read an interesting metaphor that stands out either for its clarity or confusion, send it to me, scalometer at gmail dot com.

    Links and References

    The Economist article: http://www.economist.com/node/21549101
    Manhattan Project website: http://www.mphpa.org/classic/HISTORY/little_boy.htm

    Sunday, April 22, 2012

    Huang's Scale Zooming App Updated

    Cary Huang has added many more objects to the htwins.net flash application.

    To increase traffic for Huang and enable more people to participate, I list below the objects, their sizes, and Huang's comments. Huang, if you are reading this, send your email, so people can send you ideas, corrections, etc. And thanks for the great application!



    Exponent Mantissa Sci. Notation Value Object Commentary by Huang
    27 1.6 1.6 x 10^27 At least 160 billion light-years The Estimated Size of the Universe The Universe is everything we know. We know
    nothing of what lies beyond! Oh, also, the universe may be much larger than
    this. There's just no way to accurately measure the size.
    26 9.3 9.3 x 10^26 93 billion light-years Observable Universe The radius is about 46 billion ly (half of the
    diameter). You might expect to only see 13.7 billion ly away because light
    has had only 13.7 billion years to travel, but due to the expansion of space,
    the objects that used to be 13.7 billion ly away are now 46 billion ly away,
    and we can see these.
    26 1.27 1.27 x 10^26 12.7 billion light-years Distance to the Hubble Deep
    Field
    The Hubble Space Telescope took a picture of
    an empty spot in the night sky. Instead of nothingness, the image had almost
    3,000 objects in it – distant galaxies. It's unknown where these galaxies are
    now, but where they were 12.7 billion years ago is 12.7 billion light-years
    away from us.
    25 3.3 3.3 x 10^25 3.3 billion light-years Parsec A gigaparsec is one billion parsecs. It is one
    of the largest measures of distance. There's really no need to have any
    measure larger, because the radius of the observable universe is only 14
    gigaparsecs.
    25 1.3 1.3 x 10^25 1.3 billion light-years Sloan Great Wall The Sloan Great Wall is represented by the
    thick green band. It is the largest known object in the universe. It is made
    up of galaxies, and is called a galactic filament. We are not in it. In fact,
    it lies about one billion light-years from us.
    25 1 1 x 10^25 1 billion light-years Pisces-Cetus Supercluster
    Complex
    We actually live in the Pisces- Cetus
    Supercluster Complex. It is the second largest object known, after the Sloan
    Great Wall. I guess second place is pretty good.
    24 6.5 6.5 x 10^24 650 million light-years Distance to the Shapley
    Supercluster
    The Shapley Supercluster is a supercluster of
    galaxies. It is one of the largest objects that collapses inward; anything
    larger expands with the universe.
    24 5 5 x 10^24 500 million light-years Eridanus Supervoid It's a region in the night sky that's slightly
    cooler than the normal CMB temperature. It's 2.7° K, or -270.5° C. Barely
    above absolute zero. One theory says it leads to a parallel universe. Whoa!
    24 2.5 2.5 x 10^24 250 million light-years Distance to the Great
    Attractor
    The Great Attractor is pulling thousands of
    galaxies, including the Milky Way, towards itself. Its mass is tens of
    thousands of times greater than the Milky Way's.
    24 1.1 1.1 x 10^24 110 million light-years Virgo Supercluster The Virgo Supercluster contains over 100
    galactic clusters. The largest is the Virgo Cluster. We are in the outskirts
    of this supercluster! There are millions of other superclusters.
    24 1 Yottameter (Ym) (Diameter) Yottameter (Ym) (Diameter)
    23 3 3 x 10^23 30 million light-years Virgo Cluster The Virgo Cluster is the largest cluster in
    the Virgo Supercluster, and is at its center. It was discovered in the late
    1770s when its galaxies were catalogued as Messier objects.
    23 2 2 x 10^23 20 million light-years Fornax Cluster We live in the Virgo Supercluster. We're
    actually part of a small filament extending off of the Fornax Cluster. It's
    the second largest cluster within 100 million light-years!
    23 1 1 x 10^23 10 million light-years Local Group The Local Group is the cluster of galaxies
    that we live in. It contains about thirty galaxies and dwarf galaxies. The
    two largest galaxies are the Andromeda Galaxy and our own, the Milky Way.
    22 6 6 x 10^22 6 million light-years Abell 2029 Abell 2029 is a galactic cluster one billion
    light-years away in the constellation Serpens. Its central galaxy, which is
    IC 1101, is almost as large as it is. It emits 2 trillion times as much light
    as the Sun does. (About 10 39 lightbulbs)
    22 5 5 x 10^22 5 million light-years IC 1101 IC 1101 is the largest known galaxy. It
    contains about 100 trillion stars. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has only 250
    billion, so IC 1101 has 400 times more stars than the Milky Way.
    22 2 2 x 10^22 2 million light-years Distance to the Andromeda
    Galaxy
    At two million light-years away, the Andromeda
    Galaxy is the most distant object visible to the naked eye. However, without
    binoculars or a telescope, it will appear as a dim blur.
    21 10 10^21^ x 3 300,000 light-years Tadpole Galaxy The tadpole galaxy has a trail of stars. They
    were probably formed when another galaxy collided into it. Just like
    tadpoles, the Tadpole Galaxy is expected to lose its tail as it gets older.
    21 5 5 x 10^21 500,000 light-years NGC 4889 This very large galaxy, which is also known as
    Caldwell 35, is the brightest galaxy in the Coma cluster. It is going away
    from us at 6,500 kilometers per second. At that speed, it could
    circumnavigate the Earth in less than seven seconds!
    21 4.5 4.5 x 10^21 450,000 light-years The Distance Earth Has
    Travelled (Relative to Sun)
    Earth has travelled almost half a million
    light-years relative to the Sun since its formation. (That's 4.5 billion
    years and 4.5 billion orbits.) Travelling at 110,000 km/h, Earth is 10,000
    times slower than the speed of light.
    21 2.5 2.5 x 10^21 250,000 light-years Virgo A Virgo A is the largest galaxy in the Virgo
    Cluster. It's a supergiant elliptical galaxy. Did you know that the black
    hole at its center is flinging out a jet of subatomic matter 5,000
    light-years long?
    21 2.2 2.2 x 10^21 220,000 light-years NGC 1232 NGC 1232 is a pretty big galaxy. It's bigger
    than ours, but it's not the biggest. Of course, IC 1101 is not the biggest
    galaxy, it's only the biggest galaxy we know of. There are probably many
    more!
    21 1.8 1.8 x 10^21 180,000 light-years Whirlpool Galaxy The spiral arms in the Whirlpool Galaxy were
    believed to have been formed from a collision of a nearby galaxy. Wouldn't it
    be odd if you grew new arms whenever you collided into something?
    21 1.7 1.7 x 10^21 170,000 light-years Pinwheel Galaxy When this galaxy was first discovered, it was
    believed to be a nebula. It's not; it's a galaxy. It's also called Messier
    101, because it was the 101 st Messier object to be catalogued.
    21 1.5 1.5 x 10^21 150,000 light-years Andromeda Galaxy The Andromeda Galaxy is the Milky Way's twin.
    It's the nearest galaxy that is a similar size and shape. In a few billion
    years, the two galaxies will collide and form one larger elliptical galaxy -
    Milkomeda.
    21 1.5 1.5 x 10^21 150,000 light-years Cartwheel Galaxy Astronomers think the Cartwheel Galaxy had a
    collision with two nearby galaxies 200 million years ago. Actually, 700
    million years ago, because the Cartwheel Galaxy is 500 million light-years
    away, so what we see of it is already 500 million years old.
    21 1.2 1.2 x 10^21 120,000 light-years Milky Way Galaxy The Milky Way is the galaxy we live in. You
    can't see the whole thing at once, of course, but on a dark night you might
    be able see a streak that spans the whole sky! It looks milky, so it's the
    Milky Way.
    21 1 Zettameter (Zm) (Diameter) Zettameter (Zm) (Diameter)
    20 5 5 x 10^20 50,000 light-years Sombrero Galaxy Do you think the Sombrero Galaxy looks like a
    sombrero? I'm not sure. Oh! Did you know that there is a supermassive black
    hole in the center of this galaxy? Most large galaxies have supermassive
    black holes. Our Milky Way might!
    20 5 5 x 10^20 50,000 light-years Triangulum Galaxy This galaxy is not shaped like a triangle;
    it's just called that because it is found in the constellation Triangulum.
    Did you realize that any three stars form a "triangle
    constellation"? You could have millions of triangle constellations!
    20 2.2 2.2 x 10^20 22,000 light-years NGC 3310 NGC 3310 is another one of those galaxies that
    have collided with other galaxies, altering their shape. It is a spiral
    galaxy that has very beautiful arms and is over 40 million light-years away.
    20 1.4 1.4 x 10^20 14,000 light-years Large Magellanic Cloud The Large Magellanic Cloud is only called
    large because it is larger than the galaxy nearest to it, the Small
    Magellanic Cloud. If the Small Magellanic Cloud were larger, the Large
    Magellanic Cloud would be called the Smaller Magellanic Cloud!
    20 1 1 x 10^20 10,000 light-years Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy The Sagittarius is one of the Milky Way's
    satellite galaxies. It is only 70,000 light-years distant! It is an
    elliptical galaxy, and a dwarf one as well. It was not discovered until 1994.
    19 7 7 x 10^19 7,000 light-years Small Magellanic Cloud The Small Magellanic Cloud is only called
    small because it is smaller than the galaxy nearest to it, the Large
    Magellanic Cloud. If the Large Magellanic Cloud were smaller, the Small
    Magellanic Cloud would be called the Large Magellanic Cloud!
    19 6.5 6.5 x 10^19 6,500 light-years Canes Venatici Dwarf Galaxy I The Canes Venatici Dwarf Galaxy I is 720,000
    light-years away from us. If you zoom out to that scale, the galaxy will be a
    couple pixels across.
    19 5 5 x 10^19 5,000 light-years Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy is the nearest
    galaxy, if you don't count the Milky Way itself. It lies between the arms of
    the Milky Way and is being pulled apart by the gravity of the Milky Way.
    19 2 2 x 10^19 2,000 light-years Leo II Dwarf Galaxy The Leo II Dwarf Galaxy is a satellite of the
    Milky Way Galaxy. It is one of twenty-four known satellites of the Milky Way.
    The stars in Leo II are metal-poor. They're also relatively old.
    18 6 6 x 10^18 600 light-years Tarantula Nebula The Tarantula Nebula is the largest known
    nebula. It can be found in the Large Magellanic cloud. It's very bright, with
    an absolute magnitude is -11. It is the brightest non-stellar object known.
    18 3 3 x 10^18 300 light-years Barnard's Loop Barnard's Loop is a huge nebula and is only
    1,600 light-years away. It covers 10 degrees of the sky (which is a lot). It
    spans over most of the constellation Orion! However, it's so faint you can
    only see it on dark nights, or with long exposure times. So sad.
    18 3 3 x 10^18 300 light-years Messier 54 Messier 54, or M54, or NGC 6715, is another
    globular cluster. It is in the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, which would mean
    it's the first globular cluster outside of the Milky Way to be discovered.
    18 1.5 1.5 x 10^18 150 light-years Omega Centauri Omega Centauri is a globular cluster. It is
    the brightest globular cluster. The center is very crowded. Stars there are
    0.1 light-years apart, which is 2% of the distance from our Sun to the
    nearest star. (That is really close!)
    18 1.1 1.1 x 10^18 110 light-years Lagoon Nebula The Lagoon Nebula is a nebula that was named
    the Lagoon Nebula in 1747, the year it was discovered. It is 5,000
    light-years away from us and includes tornadoes that emit UV light.
    18 1 Exameter (Em) (Diameter) Exameter (Em) (Diameter)
    18 1 1 x 10^18 100 light-years Rosette Nebula The Rosette Nebula is very large, but very
    faint. It looks like a fiery rose and a rosy fire. It's approximately 5,000
    light-years away from us and has a mass of 10,000 Suns. (3 billion Earths)
    17 7 7 x 10^17 70 light-years Cave Nebula The Cave Nebula is a very diffuse nebula. Of
    course, most nebulae as large as this one are faint, so you need long
    exposure times to see them. The Cave Nebula is also called Sh2-155 or
    Caldwell 9.
    17 7 7 x 10^17 70 light-years Eagle Nebula The Eagle Nebula is a huge stellar nursery.
    Can you see the Pillars of Creation within it? Also, note that this image is
    based off of a false- color photograph. In true color, it's a bit more
    pinkish (as most large nebulae are).
    17 6 6 x 10^17 60 light-years Great Nebula in Carina This is also called the Eta Carinae Nebula,
    which is not be confused with Eta Carinae's Homunculus Nebula (which is
    probably too small to see right now. It's 0.002 light-years across).
    17 4 4 x 10^17 40 light-years North America Nebula The apparent size of the North America Nebula
    is very large. It appears almost four times as large as a full moon. It's
    just very dim... so... you know...you need longer exposure times to see it.
    17 2.5 2.5 x 10^17 24 light-years Orion Nebula The Orion Nebula is one of the most visible
    nebulae ever! As the name suggests, it lies in the constellation Orion. Did
    you know that bullets of gas exist in this nebula?
    17 2 2 x 10^17 20 light-years The Spire This little thingy is a part of the much
    larger Eagle Nebula. Even though it appears small in comparison to the Eagle
    Nebula, it's still larger than the solar system, by 10 - 20,000 times,
    depending on your definition of our Solar System.
    17 1.1 1.1 x 10^17 11 light-years Crab Nebula The Crab Nebula is one of the most famous
    nebulae. It was also the first Messier object catalogued (M1)! The Crab
    Nebula's supernova was seen in 1054 AD and was so bright it could be seen
    during the day. It isn't even 1,000 years old!
    17 1 1 x 10^17 10 light-years The Pillars of Creation The Pillars of Creation lie within the Eagle
    Nebula. The Eagle Nebula is 7,000 light-years away from us. Evidence shows
    that the Pillars of Creation were destroyed by a supernova about 6,000 years
    ago, so we only have another millennium to see it.
    16 8 8 x 10^16 8 light-years Cone Nebula The Cone Nebula was discovered in 1785, on the
    day after Christmas. Did you know that the Cone Nebula is a dark nebula and a
    diffuse nebula? You can find it between Betelgeuse and Procyon.
    16 7 7 x 10^16 7 light-years Bubble Nebula I love blowing bubbles. Blub-blub, pop! This
    nebula is not a bubble; it just looks like one! It was created by hot stellar
    wind. Oh, and it's an emission nebula, not a planetary nebula.
    16 4.2 4.2 x 10^16 4.2 light-years Distance from the Sun to
    Proxima Centauri
    Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the
    Sun. However, it is still quite far away. 30 million Suns could fit between
    Proxima Centauri and the Sun in a straight line.
    16 3.3 3.3 x 10^16 3.3 light-years Parsec A parsec is a unit of length. The movement of
    the Earth orbiting around the Sun causes nearby stars to appear to move,
    called parallax. If a nearby star is perpendicular to the solar system and is
    exactly one parsec away, its parallax will be exactly one arcsecond, or
    1/3600 of a degree. Parallax + Arcsec = Parsec
    16 3 3 x 10^16 3 light-years Helix Nebula The Helix Nebula is one of the closest bright
    planetary nebulae to Earth. It is 400 light-years away from Earth! That's
    only four quadrillion (4,000,000,000,000,000) kilometers! (That is close,
    astronomically speaking.)
    16 2.1 2.1 x 10^16 2.1 light-years Boomerang Nebula The Boomerang Nebula is very cold, only one
    degree above absolute zero (-272° C)! That is colder than background
    radiation. Did you know the Boomerang Nebula is the coldest known object in
    the universe?
    16 2 2 x 10^16 2 light-years Ant Nebula The Ant Nebula, which is also called Mz 3, is
    expanding 180,000 kilometers per hour. It resembles an ant, so much so that
    it is named after an ant. For more about ants, zoom in 18 orders of
    magnitude.
    16 2 2 x 10^16 2 light-years Eskimo Nebula The Eskimo Nebula was discovered in 1787 and
    is the result of a Sun-like star exploding. It supposedly looks like a head
    in the hood of a parka. Another name is the Clownhead Nebula.
    16 2 2 x 10^16 2 light-years Horsehead Nebula The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most
    famouse nebulae because it looks like a horse's head. It's a dark nebula in
    front of glowing pink gas. It was first discovered in 1888. Do you like all
    those 8's? I do.
    16 2 2 x 10^16 2 light-years Oort Cloud The Oort Cloud is the outermost region of the
    solar system. Water ice, ammonia ice, methane ice and comets loosely fill the
    region. The boundary of the Oort Cloud is also the boundary of the Sun's
    gravitational pull.
    16 1.7 1.7 x 10^16 1.7 light-years Ring Nebula The Ring Nebula looks a lot like a ring. The
    old belief was that all planetary nebulae were ring- shaped like this one,
    but that is now known to not be true. There are other shapes planetary
    nebulae can be.
    16 1.4 1.4 x 10^16 1.4 light-years Rotten Egg Nebula The Rotten Egg Nebula has sulfur in it. That's
    probably why this nebula is called the Rotten Egg Nebula. I think it looks a
    bit like a raw egg, where the blue is the cracked shell and the yellow is the
    yolk spilling out.
    15 9.46 9.46 x 10^15 9.46 trillion kilometers Light-Year In one year, light travels about 9.46 trillion
    kilometers. This distance is known as a light-year. The light-year is
    commonly used for measuring astronomical distances.
    15 4.5 4.5 x 10^15 4 trillion kilometers (0.4 light-years) Blinking Nebula The Blinking Nebula is a planetary nebula that
    doesn't actually blink. It just seems to appear and disappear from view.
    There are two red FLIERs (Fast Low- Ionization Emission Regions) on opposite
    side of the nebula.
    15 3 3 x 10^15 3 trillion kilometers (0.3 light-years) Hourglass Nebula The Hourglass Nebula is actually shaped like
    an hourglass. As you can see, there are two lobes. The upper lobe is tilited
    toward us, and the bottom one is tilted away.
    15 2.5 2.5 x 10^15 2.5 trillion kilometers
    (0.25 light-years)
    Cat's Eye Nebula The Cat's Eye Nebula is one of the most
    complex nebulae known. Did you know that the Cat's Eye Nebula is 8,000° C?
    That's pretty hot! The outer halo is even hotter, at 15,000° C.
    15 2.5 2.5 x 10^15 2.5 trillion kilometers
    (0.25 light-years)
    Gomez's Hamburger Gomez's Hamburger is 900 light- years away!
    The buns are made of reflective dust, and the patty is made of dark dust.
    That does not sound very appetizing.
    15 1.5 1.5 x 10^15 1.5 trillion kilometers (0.15 light-years) Distance from Proxima Centauri
    to Alpha Centauri A
    Proxima Centauri is very far away from Alpha
    Centauri A & B.
    15 1 Petameter (Pm) (Diameter) Petameter (Pm) (Diameter)
    14 7 7 x 10^14 700 billion kilometers(0.07
    light-years)
    Stingray Nebula The Sting Ray Nebula is a planetary nebula. It
    is relatively young, and it constantly growing. Whoever named this nebula
    must have thought it looked like a stingray. Do you?
    14 1.4 1.4 x 10^14 140 billion kilometers
    (0.014 light-years)
    Distance from Sedna to Sun
    (farthest)
    When Sedna is the farthest from the Sun, it is
    very far away. This point is called the "aphelion"! It takes Sedna
    over 10,000 Earth years to complete one orbit.
    13 5.5 5.5 x 10^13 55 billion kilometers (0.006 light-years) Distance from Comet Hale-Bopp
    to Sun (farthest)
    The comet Hale-Bopp gets very far from the Sun.
    It takes 2,500 years to orbit once.
    13 2.6 2.6 x 10^13 26 billion kilometers (0.003 light-years) Light-Day Even in just twenty-four hours, light manages
    to zoom across the distance of 26 billion kilometers. That is distance is
    further than any human or space probe has travelled.
    13 2 10^13 20 billion kilometers (0.002 light-years) Homunculus Nebula At the center of the Homunculus Nebula lies a
    star. The star, which is Eta Carinae, had a magnitude of -0.8 in 1841 (second
    brightest star in the sky). Now, it is a very dim sixth-magnitude star.
    13 1.7 1.7 x 10^13 17 billion kilometers (0.002 light-years) Distance from Voyager 1 to
    Earth
    Over the last 34 years, Voyager 1 has
    travelled to a distance of 17 billion kilometers, which is the furthest any
    man-made object has gone. You can't see it, even if you stare really, really
    hard!
    13 1.5 1.5 x 10^13 15 billion kilometers (0.0015 light-years) Kuiper Belt The Kuiper Belt is a region of the Solar
    System outside the orbit of Neptune where small bodies orbit. Many dwarf
    planets exist here. It's like a larger asteroid belt.
    12 4.5 4.5 x 10^12 4.5 billion kilometers Distance from Neptune to Sun Neptune is the most distant planet in the
    solar system. The distance from Neptune to the Sun is greater than the
    diameter of any known star!
    12 3 3 x 10^12 3 billion kilometers VY Canis Majoris VY Canis Majoris is the largest known star. It
    is so large that if it were placed in the Solar System, it would extend
    beyond the orbit of Saturn! It would take a plane 1,200 years to circle it
    once.
    12 2.8 2.8 x 10^12 2.8 billion kilometers WOH G64 I know... you're thinking, "WOH... that's
    a big star!" Well, I guess you're right, because currently it's the
    second largest known star. WOH G64 is found in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
    There is a cloud surrounding the star that extends half of a light-year.
    12 2.4 20 million kilometers V V Cephei A, B For a while V V Cephei A was the largest known
    star. Now that title belongs to VY Canis Majoris.
    12 2.1 2.1 x 10^12 2.1 billion kilometers V354 Cephei V354 Cephei is red supergiant, and it's huge.
    If placed in the Solar System, it would extend past the orbit of Jupiter.
    354, in addition to being in this star's name, is also the year Augustine of
    Hippo was born.
    12 2 2 x 10^12 2 billion kilometers KY Cygni KY Cygni is 300,000 times more luminous than
    the Sun, and the Sun is pretty luminous, isn't it? The Sun is so luminous you
    aren't supposed to look at it! However, it's okay to look at KY Cyngi because
    it is 300 million times farther away.
    12 1.9 1.9 x 10^12 1.9 billion kilometers Mu Cephei Mu Cephei is very red. It is sometimes
    referred to as "Herschel's Garnet Star" because it is garnet red.
    Another alternative name is Erakis, if you don't like the first two names.
    12 1.3 1.3 x 10^12 1.3 billion kilometers Betelgeuse Betelgeuse's age is in the millions of years.
    Betelgeuse is so old, it is expected to explode in the next ten thousand
    years. Smaller stars live for trillions of years. Betelgeuse is so big it
    aged fast.
    12 1 Terameter (Tm) (Diameter) Terameter (Tm) (Diameter)
    11 9.7 9.7 x 10^11 970 million kilometers Antares Antares is a red supergiant very near the
    ecliptic, so it gets occulted by the Moon quite often. Also, Antares weighs
    septillions of tons and is losing weight through solar wind, but this method
    is slow. The fast way is to explode, which it'll do later.
    11 7.7 7.7 x 10^11 770 million kilometers S Doradus S Doradus is a hypergiant, as well as one of
    the brightest stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. For more about the Large
    Magellanic Cloud, zoom out 8.5 orders of magnitude.
    11 5.2 5.2 x 10^11 520 million kilometers R Doradus R Doradus is relatively large and is only 200
    light-years from Earth, so its apparent size is the second largest in the
    sky! It is 0.05 arcseconds across. The Sun is the largest, at 1,920
    arcseconds - 40,000 times larger.
    11 4.7 4.7 x 10^11 470 million kilometers Pistol Star The Pistol Star is one of the most luminous
    stars known. In twenty seconds, it radiates as much energy as the Sun does in
    a year. It's invisible because of interstellar dust in the way. It is called
    the Pistol Star not because of its luminosity, but because it's in the Pistol
    Nebula.
    11 4.2 4.2 x 10^11 420 million kilometers La Superba La Superba is one of the reddest stars in the
    night sky. It is so red because of all the carbon-13 it creates when fusing
    helium. (Normal carbon is carbon-12.) La Superba is only 2500° C, making it
    one of the coldest stars.
    11 3.1 3.1 x 10^11 310 million kilometers Deneb Deneb is the brightest star in the
    constellation of Cygnus. Deneb is 1,500 light-years away, which makes it the
    most distant of the 25 brightest stars. If you lived on Mars, Deneb would
    appear above the North Pole - not Polaris.
    11 2.1 2.1 x 10^11 210 million kilometers Enif Enif is an orange supergiant. Its name means
    "nose" in Arabic, because in the constellation Pegasus, it is in
    the position of the muzzle. Concidentally, the word "Enif"
    backwards is "Fine".
    11 1.6 1.6 x 10^11 160 million kilometers Gacrux Gacrux can be found in the constellation Crux.
    Crux, which means "cross" in Latin, is known as the Southern Cross.
    Gacrux is a binary star. The largest of the two is a red giant.
    11 1.5 1.5 x 10^11 150 million kilometers Distance from Earth to Sun During the day, the Sun doesn't seem so far
    away. It's actually about 150 million kilometers away. That distance is an
    Astronomical Unit, which is called an AU for short.
    10 9.7 9.7 x 10^10 97 million kilometers Rigel Rigel is a blazing blue star, and the
    brightest star in the constellation of Orion. It lies near the equator, so it
    is visible from almost anywhere on Earth. Also, don't call it
    "wriggle", because it's pronounced like "rye-jel".
    10 8.4 8.4 x 10^10 84 million kilometers Alnitak Alnitak illuminates the Flame Nebula. Alnitak
    is also the easternmost star of the three stars that form Orion's belt. The
    other two are Alnilam and Mintaka, and all three appear very bright from
    planet Earth.
    10 6 6 x 10^10 60 million kilometers Aldebaran Aldebaran is not to be confused with Alderaan,
    which is a planet in Star Wars. Alderaan is very similar to Earth in size,
    day length, and water cover. However, Aldebaran is 5,000 times larger in
    diameter, rotates every 643 Earth days, and has no water on the surface.
    10 4 4 x 10^10 40 million kilometers Polaris Polaris is known as the North Star. It is very
    near the north pole, so if you want to know which way is north, just try to
    find Polaris. Locate the two stars on the far side of the Big Dipper, and go
    upward.
    10 3.6 3.6 x 10^10 36 million kilometers Arcturus Arcturus is the third brightest star in the
    night sky, after Sirius and Canopus. It's the brightest star in the
    constellation of Boötes. Find it by following the handle of the Big Dipper.
    10 2.2 2.2 x 10^10 22 million kilometers Albireo Albireo is made up of three stars total. Here
    we are just showing the largest one. Two of the stars are close, and form a
    yellow dot. The third is blue and further away. The blue star and yellow
    stars are so far apart it takes them 100,000 years to complete one orbit.
    10 1.7 1.7 x 10^10 17 million kilometers Capella Capella is actually a binary star. Both stars
    are type-G giant stars. The larger one is the one you see to the left. The
    Sun is also a type-G star, but it's a main- sequence one.
    10 1.1 1.1 x 10^10 11 million kilometers Pollux In Greek mythology, Pollux's twin is Castor.
    They are also stars in the constellation Gemini, meaning "twins".
    However, in reality, Pollux in a single star, while Castor is three binary
    stars, for a total of six stars. Castor is a set of sextuplets!
    9 9.6 9.6 x 10^9 9.6 million kilometers Spica Spica is the fifteenth brightest star in the
    night sky and lies in the constellation Virgo. It's actually a binary star
    system. The two stars are very close, and they orbit every four days.
    9 5.8 5.8 x 10^9 5.8 million kilometers Regulus Regulus spins so quickly it bulges, just like
    Altair and Vega. If Regulus were to spin 16% faster, it would rip apart!
    Regulus is also the brightest star in the constellation Leo. There's also
    Regulus B & C.
    9 3.8 3.8 x 10^9 3.8 million kilometers Vega Vega is found in the Lyra constellation. It is
    also part of the Summer Triangle, composed of Vega, Altair, and Deneb. Vega
    spins so quickly it bulges. However, we see it pole-on, so it looks circular.
    9 2.9 2.9 x 10^9 2.9 million kilometers Procyon Did you know that over the next 10 million
    years, Procyon will grow to 100 times its current diameter and become red?
    This is because Procyon's hydrogen is now all helium. The Sun will do the
    same thing in a couple billion years.
    9 2.6 2.6 x 10^9 2.6 million kilometers Altair Altair is one of the three stars in the Summer
    Triangle. The Summer Triangle is an acute triangle, which means that all the
    angles are less than 90°! The other two are Vega and Deneb. Like many other
    stars, Altair spins very quickly, bulging at the center!
    9 2.5 2.5 x 10^9 Phospholipid Phospholipids are beautifully amazing little
    molecules, and you have millions of millions of millions of them in your
    body. Phospholipids are actually a special type of lipid that make up cell
    membranes.
    9 2.5 2.5 x 10^9 2.5 million kilometers Sirius A Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky.
    It is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the second brightest star. However,
    Sirius is not a large star. It only appears bright because it is close to us,
    at only eight light-years away.
    9 1.5 1.5 x 10^9 1.5 million kilometers Alpha Centauri A Alpha Centauri A is the largest star of the
    Alpha Centauri star system (composed of three stars), which is the closest
    star system to us. It is also the fourth brightest star in the night sky.
    9 1.4 1.4 x 10^9 1.4 million kilometers The Sun Also known as Sol, the Sun is what gives Earth
    the energy that makes it able to have life. The Sun is over 100 times larger
    in diameter than Earth! 20,000 times more solar energy hits the Earth than
    the human race uses. However, some stars are even larger and more luminous.
    9 1 1 x 10^9 1 million kilometers Alpha Centauri B Alpha Centauri B is the second largest star in
    the Alpha Centauri star system. Its diameter is approximately one million
    kilometers, so it is slightly smaller than the Sun. Alpha Centuari A & B
    are so close they appear as a single star to us Earthlings.
    9 1 Gigameter (Gm) (Diameter) Gigameter (Gm) (Diameter)
    8 9.6 9.6 x 10^8 960,000 kilometers Gliese 229A Gliese 229A is a red dwarf star. It is a bit
    smaller than the Sun. The red dwarf star is also written as GJ 229 or GI 229.
    It is part of a binary star system, the second star being Gliese 229B.
    8 4.2 4.2 x 10^8 420,000 kilometers Kapteyn's Star Kapteyn's Star is only thirteen light-years
    away. Even so, its magnitude is +9, so you need binoculars to see it. Around
    10,000 years ago, Kapteyn's Star was only seven light-years away!
    8 4.2 4.2 x 10^8 420,000 kilometers Luyten's Star Luyten's Star is a red dwarf star 12
    light-years away from us. It is so close to Procyon that Procyon would appear
    10 times brighter to Luyten's Star than Sirius appears to us. Also, I don't
    know how to pronounce it. Is it like "Luwee- ten", or
    "Loy-ten", or "Loo-ten? I just don't know! Help please!
    8 3.8 3.8 x 10^8 380,000 kilometers Distance from Earth to Moon The Earth and the Moon here are not to scale.
    If the distance were a meter, Earth would be the size of a quarter, and the
    moon would be a pea.
    8 2.3 2.3 x 10^8 230,000 kilometers TrES-4 TrES-4 is the largest planet discovered. No
    telescope can actually see TrES-4, but there are ways to prove its existence
    indirectly. TrES-4's gravity causes the star it orbits to wobble slightly.
    Also, whenever TrES-4 goes in front of the star, the shine of the star dims a
    little.
    8 2 2 x 10^8 200,000 kilometers Proxima Centauri Proxima Centauri is known as being the closest
    star to Earth other than the Sun. Its name comes from the word
    "proximity". Proxima Centauri is a small red star. Unfortunately,
    it is so dim, you need a telescope to see it.
    8 1.5 1.5 x 10^8 150,000 kilometers Wolf 359 Wolf 359 is a small red dwarf, dwarfed by
    normal stars. It is the sixth closest star to Earth, after the Sun, Proxima
    Centauri, Alpha Centauri A & B and Barnard's star. Still, its magnitude
    is a dim +13.5.
    8 1.4 1.4 x 10^8 140,000 kilometers Jupiter Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar
    system. However, it is not the largest known planet. That's TrES-4. Jupiter
    is a gas giant, so it's just a ball of gas. You can't land anywhere on it.
    Also, Jupiter has 64 moons, including the four Gallilean moons.
    8 1.2 1.2 x 10^8 120,000 kilometers Saturn Saturn has the widest, most visible rings of
    the Solar System. Galileo, who was the first person to see these rings, first
    thought they were "ears". Can you imagine a Saturn without rings?
    It would be just a yellow ball.
    8 1.1 1.1 x 10^8 110,000 kilometers Gliese 229B Gliese 229B is a brown dwarf star. It orbits a
    larger dwarf star, which is Gliese 229A. Gliese 229B would be classified as a
    planet, but it is much denser than Jupiter, making its mass too large to be
    considered a planet.
    7 6.4 6.4 x 10^7 64,000 kilometers Minecraft World Stretching from the coordinates +32,000,000 to
    -32,000,000, the Minecraft world spans a total of 64,000 kilometers. This
    world has approximately 130 quadrillion blocks in it! That sure is a lot!
    7 5.1 5.1 x 10^7 51,000 kilometers Uranus A lot of people like to think
    "Uranus" sounds like "your anus". There are many other,
    and better, pronunciations. Uranus can also be pronouced like
    "Yer-uh-niss" or "Seh-venth-pla-net".
    7 4.9 4.9 x 10^7 49,000 kilometers Neptune Currently, Neptune is the farthest planet in
    the Solar System from the Sun. It takes 164.8 Earth years for it to orbit the
    Sun. You'll never see Neptune complete a single orbit in your whole life,
    unless life expectancies increase.
    7 2 2 x 10^7 20,000 kilometers Sirius B Sirius B is a white dwarf. It's barely bigger
    than the Earth! It's usually pretty hard to see because it is hidden by
    Sirius A's blinding light. Sirius B is known as "The Pup".
    7 1.27 1.27 x 10^7 12,700 kilometers Earth The Earth is our only home. While living on
    it, we may consider it huge, but it is still important to take care of it.
    When it is gone, there will be nowhere else left to go.
    7 1.2 1.2 x 10^7 12,000 kilometers Venus There was a time when Venus and Earth were
    thought to be sister planets. That isn't true at all! Venus's surface
    temperature is always above 450° C, because its atmosphere, which is mostly
    carbon dioxide, traps the Sun's heat!
    7 1 Total Human Height If all the 7 billion humans stood on top of
    one another, and the bottom 6.99 billion humans didn't crumple under all the
    weight, the stack would be approximately 10 million kilometers tall.
    6 8.85 8.85 x 10^6 8,850 kilometers Great Wall of China, actual
    (curving) length
    The Great Wall of China is 8,850 kilometers in
    length. However, it twists and turns, so the distance from the endpoints is
    actually only 2,900 kilometers. Oh, and another thing. The Great Wall of
    China is not visible from space. It's less than 10 meters wide! Most houses
    are wider than that!
    6 8 8 x 10^6 8,000 kilometers Asia Asia is the Earth's largest continent, holding
    over four billion people – over half of the world's population. Africa is the
    second most populous continent, but only has one billion people.
    6 6.8 6.8 x 10^6 6,800 kilometers Mars Mars is known as the Red Planet. It is red
    because it is rusty. Many people believe water and life once existed on Mars.
    However, even if that is true, the life wouldn't be like the little green
    men.
    6 5.3 5.3 x 10^6 5,300 kilometers Ganymede Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar
    System. It orbits Jupiter and was discovered by Galileo, which makes it a
    Galilean moon. Also, Ganymede is not to be confused with Ganymed, which is an
    asteroid whose name doesn't have the final "e"!
    6 5.2 5.2 x 10^6 5,200 kilometers Titan Titan is Saturn's only large moon. It has a
    very thick atmosphere, which is made up of mostly nitrogen. Earth's
    atmosphere is also mostly nitrogen. Titan has seas of liquid methane. (It's
    around -180° C.) There's even a continent called "Xanadu".
    6 4.9 4.9 x 10^6 4,900 kilometers Mercury Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. It
    has no atmosphere. During the day, temperatures reach 400° C, but at night,
    the temperatures fall to -180° C. One Mercurian year is 88 Earth days.
    6 4.8 4.8 x 10^6 4,800 kilometers Callisto Callisto is the most distant of the Gallilean
    moons. It orbits outside all the other Gallilean moons and gets hit with the
    most meteors. All these impacts create many, many craters.
    6 4.2 4.2 x 10^6 4,200 kilometers U. S. A. Here is the U. S. A. Although it may seem to
    be larger than Pluto, Pluto has a back face, which means Pluto has more
    surface area!
    6 3.6 3.6 x 10^6 3,600 kilometers Io Io has a lot of volcanoes. It is the most
    volcanic thing in the Solar System! Io's geysers emit frozen sulfur dioxide
    up to 500 kilometers into space! The landscape of Io is constantly changing.
    In one year, it will look very different!
    6 3.5 3.5 x 10^6 3,500 kilometers The Moon The Moon, also known as "Luna", is
    the brightest object in the night sky. It orbits Earth every 27 days, 7 hours
    and 43 minutes. I like to imagine seeing several moons scattered across the
    night sky. That would be amazing!
    6 3.1 3.1 x 10^6 3,100 kilometers Europa Europa is the puniest of the Galilean moons.
    It is covered with ice. There are mysterious streaks that cover the moon's
    surface. Some people believe water might exist beneath the layer of ice,
    possibly even holding life.
    6 2.9 2,900 kilometer Great Wall of China, straight
    length
    The Great Wall of China is 8,850 kilometers in
    length. However, it twists and turns, so the distance from the endpoints is
    actually only 2,900 kilometers. Oh, and another thing. The Great Wall of
    China is not visible from space. It's less than 10 meters wide! Most houses
    are wider than that!
    6 2.7 2.7 x 10^6 2,700 kilometers Triton Triton is Neptune's largest moon. It is also
    the coldest object in the Solar System, at -240° C. Triton is also a very
    windy place, with winds going at almost the speed of sound!
    6 2.3 2.3 x 10^6 2,300 kilometers Pluto Pluto used to be a planet, but now it's not.
    Why do people feel sympathy for it? It has no feelings. And if it did, why
    would it care about what the people way over on Earth thought about it? On
    another note, Pluto's official name is now "134340 Pluto", because
    it is a dwarf planet.
    6 1.8 1.8 x 10^6 1,800 kilometers Sedna Sedna has a very elliptical orbit. It is so
    far away it takes 10,000 Earth years to complete one orbit. You probably
    realized that "Sedna" backwards is "Andes", the world's
    longest mountain range. (It's in South America.) Both may seem other-worldly!
    6 1.3 1.3 x 10^6 1,300 kilometers Quaoar Quaoar is very dense. Its core is very big.
    Quaoar may have been much larger long ago. It might have been hit by an
    object the size of Pluto, which would have stripped away the outer layers.
    6 1.2 1.2 x 10^6 1,200 kilometers California California is nicknamed "The Golden
    State". That's why it's colored golden. California is home to 37 million
    people, which is less than one percent of the world's population.
    6 1.2 1.2 x 10^6 1,200 kilometers Charon Charon is Pluto's only large moon. They are
    very close in size. They are so close, some people consider Pluto and Charon
    to be a double planet. Did you know the same side of Charon always faces
    Pluto, and the same side of Pluto always faces Charon?
    6 1.2 1.2 x 10^6 1,200 kilometers Texas Texas is the only state to have the same rank
    in both population and land area, which is second. If Puerto Rico were to be
    counted, Mississippi would rank in 32nd in both catergories, but it's not,
    because Puerto Rico is not a state.
    6 1.1 1.1 x 10^6 1,100 kilometers Italy Italy was the home to Leonardo Da Vinci, who
    was an inventor, mathematician, engineer, painter, sculptor, scientist,
    musician, and much more. Many other painters, including Raphael and
    Michelangelo, were also from Italy.
    6 1 10^6^ x 2.4 2,400 kilometers Eris Eris is the largest dwarf planet. It is even
    bigger than Pluto, which is also a dwarf planet. Eris is further from the Sun
    than Pluto. Eris has a moon, and that's Dysnomia. Where's Dysnomia? It's down
    there.
    6 1 Megameter (Mm) (Diameter) Megameter (Mm) (Diameter)
    5 9.5 9.5 x 10^5 950 kilometers Ceres Ceres is not a very good place for humans to
    live. Ceres is also the largest asteroid, and began the debate over the
    definition of "planet". For a time, Ceres was considered a planet,
    but then it wasn't.
    5 4.5 4.5 x 10^5 450 kilometers Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is one of the largest canyons
    on Earth. It was carved by the Colorado River. All that carving took around
    17 million years! The layers of rock exposed were even older, some as old as
    1.8 billion years old!
    5 4 4 x 10^5 400 kilometers West Virginia West Virginia used to be part of Virginia.
    They split in 1863 because the Civil War. Now, West Virginia is still a
    state! A lot of glass marbles are made in West Virginia.
    5 2.4 2.4 x 10^5 240 kilometers Rwanda Rwanda is a country in eastern- central Africa
    and is known as "The Land of a Thousand Hills". Did you know that
    Rwanda as a country ranks 148th in land area? That means there are only 147
    countries larger than it.
    5 1.5 1.5 x 10^5 150 kilometers Dysnomia Dysnomia is Eris's only moon and was
    discovered on September 10, 2005, which was a Saturday. Also, did you know
    that "Dysnomia" also refers to a learning disability that is
    similar to dyslexia?
    5 1.2 1.2 x 10^5 120 kilometers Brunei Brunei is a country in Southeast Asia. It is
    surrounded completely by Malaysia and the South China Sea. 400,000 people
    live in this country. They drive on the left side of the road.
    5 1 1 x 10^5 100 kilometers Hydra Hydra is one of Pluto's moons. It's named
    after the seven-headed serpent from Greek mythology. Of course, Hydra will
    grow two heads if you cut one off. If you want Hydra to have n heads, all you
    have to do is cut off n-7 heads! However, this will not work if you want less
    than seven.
    4 8 8 x 10^4 80 kilometers Nix Nix is the smallest known moon of Pluto. Its
    name is the second shortest name of a moon, the shortest being Io. The name
    comes from the primordial Greek goddess Nyx, who was the night.
    4 7.5 7.5 x 10^4 75 kilometers Rhode Island Rhode Island is the smallest state in the U.
    S. A. However, it could still fit the world's population on it. Did you know
    that Rhode Island has the longest official state name? (The State of Rhode
    Island and Providence Plantations)
    4 4.22 4.22 x 10^4 42.2 kilometers Marathon A marathon is 42.2 kilometers, or 26.2 miles.
    About one thousandth of Americans have run a marathon. According to legend,
    after a Greek victory in the Battle of Marathon, Pheidippides was sent to
    Athens to tell the news. The distance was a marathon!
    4 2.4 2.4 x 10^4 24 kilometers Neutron Star Neutron stars are made of tightly packed
    neutrons. As a result, they are extremely dense. One milliliter of neutron
    star material weighs 500 billion kilograms! (That's about the weight of all
    humans combined.)
    4 2.3 2.3 x 10^4 23 kilometers Phobos Phobos is the larger of the two Martian moons.
    Still, it is quite small! Did you know that if you were standing on Phobos,
    its gravity would be so weak that you could throw a baseball and it wouldn't
    come back down?
    4 1.3 1.3 x 10^4 13 kilometers Deimos Deimos is one of the smallest moons known. You
    could walk around it in a day! Of course, you'd have to wear a space suit to
    survive in the vacuum of space. I don't think you could walk as fast in a
    space suit, though.
    4 1.1 1.1 x 10^4 11 kilometers Halley's Comet The actual size of Halley's Comet is quite
    small. The tail that it forms can be millions of kilometers in length!
    Halley's comet loses 10% of its mass for every thousand orbits.
    4 1.09 1.09 x 10^4 10.9 kilometers Depth of the Mariana Trench The Mariana Trench is a pretty deep trench. It
    is in the Pacific Ocean, and its human population is zero. Did you know that
    this lovely trench has been proposed as a site for dumping nuclear waste?
    That's a deep topic!
    3 8.8 8.8 x 10^3 8.8 kilometers Mount Everest Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth
    at 8,848 meters. It is constantly growing, like children do. Not many people
    can climb it without using an oxygen tank.
    3 8.6 8.6 x 10^3 8.6 kilometers Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider is the world's
    largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It smashes protons into each
    other! That's really mean, like the bullies at school that smash the little
    children together.
    3 8 8 x 10^3 8 kilometers Palm Jebel Ali Palm Jebel Ali is the largest man-made island
    (not including islands like Flevopolder, where a region of the Netherlands
    was drained so there could be more land). Palm Jebel Ali is not complete. It
    is part of the Palm Islands and is planned to house 250,000 people!
    3 5 5 x 10^3 5 kilometers Cruithne Cruithne is known as Earth's second moon. It
    actually isn't Earth's moon. It just follows an elliptical orbit around the
    Sun that is near Earth's orbit, and its year is 364 days, close to Earth's
    year.
    3 4 4 x 10^3 4 kilometers Central Park Central Park, which is in New York City, is
    the most visited urban park in the United States! Did you know that 18 people
    actually live in Central Park? That's pretty cool!
    3 3 3 x 10^3 3 kilometers Uluru Uluru, which is also known as Ayers Rock, is a
    rock. At 348 meters tall, it is shorter than many buildings. However, it is
    three kilometers in length, making it longer than all buildings.
    3 1 1 x 10^3 1 kilometer AM Radio Wavelength A and M are the first and thirteenth letters
    of the alphabet. One is a perfect square, while thirteen is not. We all have
    our differences, and we have to learn to accept them. That's the only way
    we'll live in harmony.
    3 1 1 x 10^3 1 kilometer Boeing Everett Factory The Boeing Everett Factory, with 13 million
    cubic meters of usable space, is the largest building in the world. The Great
    Wall of China and the Three Gorges Dam do not qualify as buildings.
    3 1 Kilometer (m) (Diameter) Kilometer (m) (Diameter)
    2 9.79 9.79 x 10^2 979 meters Angel Falls Angel Falls is the tallest waterfall in the
    world. It is Venezuela's top tourist attraction. Most of the water evaporates
    into mist before hitting the ground. That's too bad. Or is it good? It's
    good.
    2 8.28 8.28 x 10^2 828 meters Burj Khalifa Burj Khalifa, which used to be called the Burj
    Dubai, is the tallest building in the world. No other building is taller than
    828,000 millimeters tall. There's a swimming pool on the 76th floor.
    2 8 8 x 10^2 800 meters Vatican City Vatican City is the smallest country. It,
    although very small, is larger than you are. If you were to stretch your
    flesh over Vatican City so that it was spread evenly, the coating would be
    about 200 nanomaters thick, which is less than even a single skin cell!
    2 4.1 4.1 x 10^2 410 meters Half Dome, Yosemite Half Dome is a large dome that is in Yosemite
    National Park. It is made up of granite. The steep side of the dome is almost
    vertical. Don't fall off that side unless you want to. Some people like to
    climb it, even though it is very challenging!
    2 3.2 3.2 x 10^2 320 meters Eiffel Tower For 41 years, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest
    man-made structure in the world. 200 million people have been to the Eiffel
    Tower, which is almost the population of the U.S.A.!
    2 2.7 2.7 x 10^2 270 meters Titanic The Titanic sank when it hit an iceberg.
    Although it was capable of holding enough lifeboats for 4,000 people, they
    decided they only needed enough lifeboats for 1,178 people. There were 3,547
    people on the Titanic.
    2 2.2 2.2 x 10^2 220 meters Hoover Dam
    2 1.92 1.92 x 10^2 192 meters Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is the tallest structure in
    St. Louis. There is an observation area at the very top, and from it, you can
    see the Mississippi River. You should go visit it sometime in the near
    future!
    2 1.69 1.69 x 10^2 169 meters Washington Monument The Washington Monument is the world's tallest
    obelisk, as well as the world's tallest stone structure. It was the world's
    tallest structure from 1884 to 1889. After that it was the Eiffel Tower,
    which is to the upper-right. The Washington Monument is not the world's
    tallest column - that's the San Jacinto Monument.
    2 1.5 1.5 x 10^2 150 meters The Great Pyramid of Giza This picture is actually of the Giza
    Necropolis. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the pyramid on the left. It is the
    oldest one, built by the Egyptians in 2560 BC. It was the tallest man-made
    structure for almost 4,000 years.
    2 1.1 1.1 x 10^2 110 meters Saturn V
    2 1.097 1.097 x 10^2 109.7 meters Football Field American football fields are 120 yards (109.7
    m) long, if end zones are included. Anyway, football fields are often used
    for measuring large objects. For example, "The Titanic is almost three
    football fields long!" Oh, and another thing – Football fields are also
    used for playing football.
    2 1.08 1.08 x 10^2 108 meters International Space Station The International Space Station is pretty
    cool. It floats around in low Earth orbit, and you can even see it from
    Earth! The ISS has had humans within it continuously for the last eleven
    years, which is a record for a spacecraft. (They weren't all the same
    humans.)
    2 1 1 x 10^2 100 meters Redwood Tree The redwood tree is the tallest tree in the
    world. Its height, combined with that of an ant's, is greater than any
    human's! However, the universe is still 10 25 times larger.
    1 9.3 9.3 x 10^1 93 meters Statue of Liberty Although the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of
    America, it was actually built in France. It was based off of an ancient
    statue of the Greek Sun god Helios. The Statue of Liberty is pretty cool,
    even though the torch has been closed since 1916 because it is dangerous.
    1 6.5 6.5 x 10^1 65 meters Boeing 747 The Boeing 747, which flies, is an airplane.
    Since 1969, it's been shorter than a redwood tree. Before then, it didn't
    exist, so it wasn't shorter or longer. And yes, its wingspan is longer than
    the Wright brother's first flight (37 meters).
    1 6 6 x 10^1 60 meters Amphilicoelias fragilimus Amphilicoelias fragilimus was the largest
    dinosaur ever! It weighed over 100 tons! It's so big you could build your
    house on top of it if you wanted to!
    1 3 3 x 10^1 30 meters Blue Whale The blue whale is the largest animal there is.
    Its weight, which is 180 metric tons, is greater than any other animal's.
    Unfortunately, whaling has lowered the blue whale's population from 300,000
    to 2,000.
    1 1.5 1.5 x 10^1 15 x 10 meters Average U.S. House These houses of the United States have been
    getting larger. In the last 40 years, the average house has almost doubled in
    area! These houses are so large, you could fit 1,000 people in them! It would
    be pretty cramped, though.
    1 1.5 1.5 x 10^1 15 meters Oak Tree The oak tree is a tree. They can live a very
    long time, longer than even a human can! Oak trees produce thousands of
    acorns a year. Acorns are good. Almost as good as ice cubes.
    1 1.4 1.4 x 10^1 14 meters Saguaro Cactus
    0 9 9 x 10^0 9 meters Apollo Lunar Module This thing weighs 15,000 kilograms! That's a
    lot! It also landed on the Moon. Its landing inspired the arcade game
    "Lunar Lander", which is not easy. When I play, I always run out of
    fuel!
    0 7 7 x 10^0 7 meters Tyrannosaurus Rex This dinosaur is now extinct, but it used to
    be to 7 meters long. It is still being debated whether the T- Rex was a
    predator or a scavenger. Although the T-Rex was very large, it was not the
    largest! Zoom out a bit to see the largest dinosaur!
    0 6 Giraffe The giraffe is the tallest land mammal at a
    mind-boggling 6 meters! Its neck alone is almost half of its entire height.
    Adult giraffes are so tall that the only way for predators to kill them is to
    push them onto their side!
    0 5 5 x 10^0 5 meters Elephant The elephant is the largest land animal. Only
    three species of elephants remain. They can weigh up to 8 tons, which is
    about 10 times the weight any human has ever achieved!
    0 3 3 x 10^0 3 meters Giant Earthworm The giant earthworm can grow up to three
    meters long. When baby giant earthworms hatch from their cocoons, they are
    only twenty centimeters long. They take five years to reach their full
    length. They burrow underground and make gurgling noises.
    0 3 3 x 10^0 3 meters Japanese Spider Crab The Japanese Spider Crab is the largest
    arthropod. However, not all Japanese Spider Crabs get to be this size. Some
    are only one meter across. Unfortunately, fishermen have killed many of them.
    That's a lot of crab meat!
    0 3 3 x 10^0 3 meters Marathon The Wandering Albatross is the bird with the
    largest wingspan! They fly almost all the time, only stopping to eat and make
    babies. Their population is slowly decreasing. Now it is only at 26,000,
    which isn't very much.
    0 2.5 2.5 x 10^0 2.5 meters Sunflower Did you know that the "flower" of a
    sunflower is not a single flower, but actually a flower head made up of
    thousands of small flowers? These small flowers are called florets. The
    florets in the center become sunflower seeds, which are currently invisible
    at this scale.
    0 1.7 1.7 x 10^0 1.7 meters Human I'm going to assume you are a human. I am a
    human too! Did you know that there are over 7 billion of us? That's a lot. In
    fact, if you met each person for one second, it would take you about 200
    years to meet all of them! Better get started now!
    0 1 1 x 10^0 1 meter Dodo Bird The dodo bird went extinct sometime during the
    1600s. The name comes from the sound they make (or should I say used to make
    since they're now extinct). So yeah, they're gone.
    0 1 1 x 10^0 1 meter FM Radio Wavelength F and M are the sixth and thirteenth letters
    of the alphabet. Six is a perfect number, while thirteen is not. We all have
    our differences, and we have to learn to accept them. That's the only way
    we'll live in harmony.
    0 1 Meter (m) (Diameter) Meter (m) (Diameter)
    0 1 1 x 10^0 1 meter Rafflesia The rafflesia is the largest single flower in
    the world. It can weigh up to 10 kilograms, which is actually pretty heavy.
    The flower smells like rotting flesh to attract flies, which will pollinate
    it.
    -1 8 8 x 10^-1 80 centimeters Beach ball Beach balls were invented in 1938, which was
    over 70 years ago. Beach balls are also colorful. In addition, they are very
    fun! The only beach ball that isn't fun is the beach ball of death.
    -1 3 3 x 10^-1 30 centimeters Inch Ruler For all of you people not accustomed to the
    metric system, here's an inch ruler, which is approximately one foot long.
    Unfortunately, almost everything else is in the metric system.
    -1 2.5 2.5 x 10^-1 25 centimeters Russell's Teapot Bertrand Russell said that there was a teapot
    orbiting the Sun between Earth and Mars. No one could disprove him because
    such a teapot would not be visible. Therefore, no one should ever doubt
    Russell. This was used as an analogy comparing the existence of God.
    -1 2.4 2.4 x 10^-1 24 centimeters Basketball This basketball is probably a size 7
    basketball, because a size 6 basketball is only 23 centimeters in diameter.
    This basketball, which is very round, is often pushed through a hoop.
    -1 2 2 x 10^-1 20 centimeters Approximate size of this
    viewport
    Although different monitors have different
    pixel sizes, things on the screen are approximately the same size. This is
    approximately 20 centimeters across!
    -1 2 2 x 10^-1 20 centimeters Largest Hailstone The largest hailstone was found in South
    Dakota. However, most hailstones don't even come close to this size. The
    average diameter is a measly centimeter. Oh, I would also like to point out
    that not all hailstones are round.
    -1 1 1 x 10^-1 10 centimeters Hummingbird Hummingbirds flap their wings 12-80 times per
    second, which is about the same frequency as the lowest notes on the piano.
    They can also fly backwards and hover in mid-air. Amazing skills!
    -1 1 1 x 10^-1 10 centimeters Shrew Shrews are great little thingies. Their
    metabolism rate is so high they must eat their body weight every single day!
    Also, 10% of their body weight is their brain. That's the highest of any
    animal's, including humans!
    -2 5.5 5.5 x 10^-2 5.5 centimeters Chicken Egg The chicken egg is where baby chicks usually
    hatch. Many humans love to eat chicken eggs. Besides appearance, there is no
    difference between white chicken eggs and brown chicken eggs.
    -2 5 5 x 10^-2 5 centimeters Matchstick The matchstick is a very useful little tool.
    When struck against something, it can light on fire. This makes it very
    dangerous! That's why it's good to never play with matches. Got that?
    -2 4 4 x 10^-2 4 centimeters Common Earthworm Don't you just love wriggly, slimy earthworms?
    Despite the urban legends, most species of earthworms will die if you cut
    them in half. Sometimes, the head will survive and grow a new tail. But the
    tail will die.
    -2 3 3 x 10^-2 3 centimeters Quail Egg Many people think that quail eggs are better
    than chicken eggs. The quail egg is smaller and more rare than the chicken
    egg, but that doesn't stop some people from loving them!
    -2 2.5 2.5 x 10^-2 2.5 centimeters (length of side) Square Inch For all of you people not accustomed to the
    metric system, here's a square inch. Unfortunately for you, almost everything
    else is in the metric system.
    -2 1.9 1.9 x 10^-2 1.9 centimeters U.S. Penny Did you know that in 1912, the penny was worth
    what the quarter is worth now? Also, if you melt a penny down into zinc and
    copper, it would be worth 1.79 cents. That is illegal, so don't do it.
    -2 1.5 1.5 x 10^-2 1.5 centimeters Glass Marble Glass marbles are round, but they're actually
    quite rough if you look at them under a microscope. This marble is an example
    of a toothpaste marble. For more about glass marbles, see West Virginia.
    -2 1 1 x 10^-2 1 centimeter Coffee Bean The coffee bean is about one centimeter across
    - and it's actually a fruit that resembles a bean. It's brown and has
    stripes, and sometimes, when you stare at it, you just forget that its
    diameter is 10 -29 of the known universe.
    -2 1 1 x 10^-2 1 centimeter Microwave Wavelength Actually, the range of microwaves is pretty
    large. They range from one millimeter to one meter. So you see, this
    electromagnetic wave, with a wavelength of one centimeter, comfortably fits
    into this range and thus is a microwave!
    -3 7 7 x 10^-3 7 millimeters Sunflower Seed Sunflower seeds are exhilaratingly delicious.
    They are so yummy, they can be made into "sunflower seed bread"!
    Sunflower seeds are not real seeds. They are the fruits of the sunflower!
    They are only called "seeds" because they resemble other seeds.
    -3 5 5 x 10^-3 5 millimeters Grain of Rice A lot of people on our beautiful world eat
    rice. If you eat one bowl of rice per day, you will eat an around 300 million
    grains of rice in your lifetime. That is also approximately the population of
    the United States!
    -3 5 5 x 10^-3 5 millimeters Sleet
    -3 4 4 x 10^-3 4 millimeters Ant You probably don't like ants. That's too bad.
    15-25% of all land animals are ants! Whoa! That's a lot of ants! For every
    person on Earth, there are over one million ants!
    -3 2 2 x 10^-3 2 millimeters Duckweed These are water lentils that float in ponds
    and other bodies of water. They don't have stems or roots. On the other hand,
    they do create flowers, which are the smallest of any plant on Earth.
    -3 1 Millimeter (mm) (Diameter) Millimeter (mm) (Diameter)
    -4 7.5 7.5 x 10^-4 750 micrometers Largest Bacteria The largest bacteria, which is Thiomargarita
    namibiensis, is almost one millimeter in length. It lives in the ocean off
    the coast of Namibia. Can you imagine being in the ocean, and seeing these
    things? They're very visible!
    -4 5 5 x 10^-4 500 micrometers Grain of Salt Salt is a compound made of a reactive metal
    and a toxic gas. Everyone knows that. Also, do not eat too much salt, or else
    you could die. Eating one thousandth of your body weight all at once will
    usually do the trick.
    -4 5 5 x 10^-4 0.5 millimeters Grain of Sand Of course, not all grains of sand are the same
    size. They vary a lot. Arenophiles are people who collect sand samples. Also,
    did you know that Papakolea Beach has green sand? This is because of crystals
    in the sand. Whatever.
    -4 5 5-9 x 10^-4 0.5-0.9 millimeters Pencil Lead People use pencil lead a lot. Oh, by the way,
    this is mechanical pencil lead. On another note, the largest pencil contained
    2,000 kilograms of graphite. That's about three times heavier than a human!
    And by human I mean the heaviest human ever.
    -4 3 3 x 10^-4 350 micrometers Amoeba E. coli E. coli are usually harmless and live in your
    intestines, making wonderful vitamin K 2 . They are in almost everyone's
    intestines. In fact, they colonize in babies' intestines just two days after
    they are born! Now that's pretty fast!
    -4 3 3 x 10^-4 300 micrometers Dust mite Dust mites like to eat dust, which you
    probably know is just dead skin cells. Many people are allergic to dust
    mites. Some people are allergic to their poop. Either way, almost all people
    want to get rid of this pesky pest.
    -4 3 3 x 10^-4 300 micrometers LCD Pixel Although the size of pixels differs greatly,
    300 micrometers is about the average. Pixels contain three subpixels that are
    red, green, and blue. Pixels are pretty cool, but voxels are even better.
    They are three-dimensional pixels.
    -4 2 2 x 10^-4 200 micrometers Paramecium Paramecia vary quite a lot in size, but it's
    usually around 200 mircrometers. These little guys are protists and like to
    swim in water. They can move two millimeters per second!
    -4 1.5 1.5 x 10^-4 150 micrometers Thickness of Paper Paper is very thin. It's so thin it can give
    you a paper cut. You can do a lot of things with paper, including writing on
    it, drawing on it, and even folding it into shapes like squares and triangles
    and dodecahedrons and others.
    -4 1.2 1.2 x 10^-4 120 micrometers Red Blood Cell An ovum, which is the largest cell in the
    human body, has a diameter of about 1/400 th that of a chicken's egg. Animals
    that develop within eggs within their mother are ovoviviparous, which humans
    are not. Ovoviviparous is the only English word starting with
    "vowel-v-vowel-v-vowel-v-vowel".
    -4 1 1 x 10^-4 100 micrometers Smallest Thing Visible to the
    Naked Eye
    Just for your information, 100 micrometers is
    about the same as one tenth of a millimeter. Hold on... it's EXACTLY one
    tenth of a millimeter. Now that is so exact, it's almost scary!
    -4 1 1 x 10^-4 100 micrometers Width of a Human Hair Human hair is amazing. Straight hair is almost
    perfectly cylindrical. On the other hand, curly hair is flatter, which allows
    to to curl, like a ribbon. Did you know that you probably have 50,000 to
    200,000 strands of hair on your head? You can count!
    -5 5 5 x 10^-5 50 micrometers Silt Particle According to the Udden- Wentworth scale, silt
    particles vary from the smallest of 1⁄256 mm to the largest of 1/16 mm.
    This silt particle to the right falls into that range quite well.
    -5 3.5 3.5 x 10^-5 35 micrometers Skin Cell The outermost layer of skin, which is also the
    only visible layer of skin, is made up of dead cells. That's because dead
    cells are the strongest, and stronger skin provides more protection! These
    cells continuously fall off. In fact, dust is 95% dead skin cells!
    -5 2.54 2.54 x 10^-5 25.4 micrometers Thou Although the word "thou" is most
    commonly known as being an old form of the word "you", a thou is
    also a unit of measurement. It is equal of one thousandth of an inch; in
    fact, that's where it gets its name. THOUsandth. Pretty cool.
    -5 1.76 1.76 x 10^-5 17.6 micrometers Twip, a typographical point A twip is a twentieth of a typographical
    point. That means that 12-point font is approximately 240 twips high. Also,
    TUIP can stand for "The Universe in Perspective", which was an old
    name for the Scale of the Universe 2. TUIP and twip are pronounced the same.
    -5 1.5 1.5 x 10^-5 15 micrometers Infrared Wavelength Things that are extremely rare are
    "inf-rare". (infinitely rare). Inf-rare is also a verb, meaning
    "to make inf-rare". (e.g., "John inf-rared the precious food
    by eating the last of it.") Infrared light used to be quite common, but
    one day, a scientist somehow "infrared" it. (By the way, this is
    not true.)
    -5 1.5 1.5 x 10^-5 15 micrometers Width of a Silk Fiber Silk is valuable and can be woven into
    clothing, which usually turns out quite soft. Silk is made by silkworm
    larvae, which I think are pretty gross. But there's also synthetic silk,
    which is not made from disgusting creepy-crawlies.
    -5 1 1 x 10^-5 10 micrometers White Blood Cell These mass murderers are also known as
    leukocytes. There are many different types of this disease-fighting cell. The
    most common type, the neutrophil, has multiple nuclei. The largest type, the
    macrophage, has a diameter of a whopping 21 μm. That's over double the
    size of the neutrophil!
    -5 0 2 x 10^-5 20 micrometers Mist droplet Mist can reduce visibility a bit. It can also
    reflect light, so that you can see rays of light shining through it. That's
    pretty cool. If you want to find mist, go to the coast or the mountains. Mist
    is more common there.
    -6 8 8 x 10^-6 8 micrometers Chloroplast Plant use chloroplasts to turn the Sun's
    energy into chemical energy, which is stored in glucose molecules!
    Chloroplasts are also what give plants their green color, because they have
    fabulous chlorophyll inside their thylakoid membranes.
    -6 7 7 x 10^-6 7 micrometers Cell nucleus Nuclei are pretty cool, and they can be found
    within all eukaryotic cells. (Human cells are eukaryotic.) The nucleus is
    where all the DNA is. During mitosis, the DNA will condense into chromosomes,
    and then the cell will split in two.
    -6 7 7 x 10^-6 7 micrometers Red Blood Cell Around one quarter of all human cells are red
    blood cells. They circulate through one cycle every 20 seconds, and only live
    around four months. The reason for the dent is to allow for more surface
    area, which means it's easier to transport oxygen. Oh, and they have no
    nucleus.
    -6 4 4 x 10^-6 4 micrometers Mitochondrion These organelles can turn the chemical energy
    from glucose into ATP, which can easily be used for energy. About
    120,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ATP molecules are created every day in
    your body by mitochondria.
    -6 4 4 x 10^-6 4 micrometers X Chromosome X chromosomes are absolutely wonderful. Most
    chromosomes look like X's even if they aren't sex chromosomes – those are
    autosomes. Females have two X chromosomes while males have an X and a Y
    chromosome.
    -6 2 2 x 10^-6 2 micrometers Clay Particle Because clay particles are so small, they
    become tightly packed, and water particles have trouble flowing through it.
    On the other hand, sand is much more coarse. Water just slips right through
    sand. Easy-peasy.
    -6 1.5 1.5 x 10^-6 1.5 micrometers Y Chromosome The Y chromosome, a sex chromosome, appears
    only in males. Did you know that the Y chromosome is continuing to shrink as
    it evolves, and will possibly disappear completely? I find that to be very
    fascinating!
    -6 1 Micrometer (µm) (Diameter) Micrometer (µm) (Diameter)
    -7 7.5 7.5 x 10^-7 750 nanometers Red Light Wavelength Red is the first color of the rainbow. It
    stimulates appetite. That's why so many food companies have red in their
    logo. They want you to eat! In short, they're trying to fool your brain.
    -7 4.4 4.4 x 10^-7 440 nanometers Largest virus The largest virus known used to be the
    Mimivirus, whose name I like, but it is now the Megavirus, whose name I also
    like. However, I do not like the viruses themselves. Did you know that in
    addition to being the largest, Megavirus is the virus with the longest
    genome?
    -7 4 4 x 10^-7 400 nanometers Mimivirus This little thingy was discovered in 1992
    within an amoeba, which is only 500 times larger. Mimivirus used to be the
    largest virus known, but now that is the Megavirus.
    -7 4 4 x 10^-7 400 nanometers Violet Light Wavelength Also known as mauve, purple, or even regalia,
    violet, which can be called lavender, periwinkle or iris, and sometimes even
    amethyst or eggplant, is also referred to as fuchsia, indigo or lilac, and on
    rare occasions, byzantium, thistle, wisteria, fandango and heliotrope.
    -7 2 2 x 10^-7 Bacteriophage The bacteriophage, or just "phage"
    for short, is a type of bacteria-infecting virus. I think they look like
    robots, not life forms. But it also could be argued that viruses are not
    alive at all.
    -7 2 2 x 10^-7 200 nanometers Smallest Thing Visible to an
    Optical Microscope
    Optical microscopes cannot see objects smaller
    than 200 nanometers because the wavelengths of visible light will pass right
    through them.
    -7 Wavelength Gamma Ray Wavelength Gamma rays have a very high frequency. They
    can come from radioactive decay. Oh, and by the way, it's not actually light
    blue as it appears to the left.
    -8 9 9 x 10^-8 90 nanometers HIV HIV infects 0.6% of the world's population and
    causes AIDS. Although a single HIV virus is very small, in fact, so small
    that not a single human being on the face of this planet can see it with
    their naked eye, it can still kill.
    -8 6 6 x 10^-8 60 nanometers Ultraviolet Light Wavelength Ultraviolet light can give you a tan. I used
    to think the sunlight and heat burnt your skin to make it darker, like how a
    barbecue grill turns all of the food black. Now I know that's not true.
    -8 4.2 4.2 x 10^-8 42 nanometers Hepatitis B Virus Hepatitis B infects a lot of humans. In fact,
    almost one third of the world population has been infected at some point.
    This virus causes vomiting, liver inflammation, and possibly death.
    -8 2.5 2.5 x 10^-8 25 nanometers Transistor Gate Transistors in computers are continuing to get
    smaller. In 1971, they were 400 times larger at 10 micrometers. Now we are
    down to 25 nanometers, but in the future, they might be even smaller. How
    small will they get?
    -8 1.7 1.7 x 10^-8 17 nanometers Porcine circovirus The Porcine circovirus is one of the smallest
    viruses. It only requires three proteins to replicate. If you consider
    viruses to be alive, then the Porcine circovirus is the smallest living
    thing. However, most people agree that viruses are not alive.
    -9 5 5 x 10^-9 5 nanometers Phospholipid Bilayer Cell membranes are made of phospholipid
    bilayers. Phospholipid bilayers can form naturally because the heads attract
    to water and the tails repel from water. As a result, tails clump together,
    forming the bilayer.
    -9 3 3 x 10^-9 Width: 3 nanometers DNA DNA, which is a nucleic acid, stores the
    genetic information of almost all living things on Earth (except for some
    viruses.) A single human cell contains 3 meters of deoxyribonucleic acid.
    That DNA, while being only a few nanometers across, holds around 25,000 genes
    in around 3 billion base pairs. That is a lot!
    -9 1 1 x 10^-9 1 nanometer Buckyball Buckyballs, which are also called
    Buckminsterfullerenes, are made of 60 carbon atoms. The shape it forms is a
    truncated icosahedron, which is also the shape of a soccer ball! A solution
    made completely out of buckyballs is purple.
    -9 1 1 x 10^-9 1 nanometer Carbon Nanotube Carbon nanotubes are the strongest material
    yet discovered. As another bonus, they're lightweight. As a result, nanotubes
    have a lot of potential applications, including buildings, batteries, solar
    panels, and possibly even a space elevator.
    -9 1 Nanometer (nm) (Diameter) Nanometer (nm) (Diameter)
    -10 8 8 x 10^-10 800 picomters Glucose Glucose is a simple sugar. Plants make glucose
    through photosynthesis and turn it into complex sugars. When we (as humans)
    eat plants or animals that have eaten plants, we eat complex sugars, which we
    break down into glucose again, which we use for energy.
    -10 5 5 x 10^-10 500 picometers Alpha Helix The alpha helix is one of the secondary
    structures of proteins. Many proteins have alpha helixes within them.
    Hemoglobin and myglobin are proteins that are made of about 70% alpha
    helixes!
    -10 5 5 x 10^-10 500 picometers X-Ray Wavelength Although X-rays do not have the highest
    frequency, it's still a bad idea to bask in them. Don't do it! Usually, you
    should have a lead shield. The thicker the lead is, the more protection.
    However, there will always be a chance some X-rays get through. Thicker lead
    just lowers this chance.
    -10 3.4 3.4 x 10^-10 340 picometers Carbon Atom Carbon is the basis of all life on Earth. This
    is because carbon atoms can create four covalent bonds, which means it can
    bond in thousands of ways with oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon, and other
    elements.
    -10 2.8 2.8 x 10^-10 280 picometers Water Molecule I like to think that whenever I drink water, I
    drink Mickey Mouse heads. Do you, too? Oh, you don't? Well, you should.
    -10 2.3 2.3 x 10^-10 500 picometers Cesium Atom Atom size is measured by the distance of the
    nuclei in covalent bonds. The shells don't look actually like this. Cesium is
    the largest atom, but its atomic number is not the highest. Why? See Helium
    Atom.
    -10 1 1 x 10^-10 Length: 100 picometers Angstrom An angstrom, which is named after Swedish
    physicist Anders Jonas Ångström, is one tenth of a nanometer. The symbol for
    an angstrom is Å. The angstrom is used to express the size of atoms.
    -11 5 5 x 10^-11 50 picometers Smallest Thing Visible to an
    Electron Microscope
    Electron microscopes allow us to see very
    small things (like atoms) that would otherwise be invisible because they are
    smaller than the wavelength of visible light.
    -11 3.1 3.1 x 10^-11 31 picometers Hydrogen Atom Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the
    universe. It's usually just a proton and a electron! A hydrogen atom is so
    small you can't even see it with your naked eye, even if you try your
    hardest.
    -11 2.5 2.5 x 10^-11 25 picometers Helium Atom Hydrogen atoms are larger than helium atoms
    because more protons in an atom's nucleus pull the electrons in closer.
    However, additional shells increase the size of the atoms the most. The
    largest atom, Cesium, has the most shells with the fewest electrons.
    (Francium unmeasured)
    -12 1 1 x 10^-12 1 picometer
    -12 1 Picometer (pm) (Diameter) Picometer (pm) (Diameter)
    -13 1 100 femtometers 100 femtometers
    -14 1.5 1.5 x 10^-14 15 femtometers Uranium Nucleus Uranium is the highest natural element. It
    also has the largest nucleus of all the natural elements. Uranium-238, the
    most common isotope of uranium, has a half-life of 4.5 billion years,
    approximately the time the Earth has existed.
    -15 6 6 x 10^-15 6 femtometers Chlorine Nucleus The chlorine nucleus has 17 protons. There are
    usually 18 or 20 neutrons there also! Only rarely are there 19 neutrons. I'm
    not sure why that is though. Do you know? Tell me if you do.
    -15 5 5 x 10^-15 5 femtometers Electron Electrons are so small that their size can't
    accurately be measured. The size of an electron varies greatly depending on
    how it's measured, whether it's based on the quantum model or, in this case,
    the classical model.
    -15 3 3 x 10^-15 3 femtometers Helium Nucleus The helium nucleus is thousands of times
    smaller than the atom, like a marble in a football field. The only reason
    matter feels solid is because atoms repel. If atoms didn't repel, everything
    would fall through each other!
    -15 1 Femtometer (fm) (Diameter) Femtometer (fm) (Diameter)
    -15 1 1 x 10^-15 1 femtometer Neutron Neutrons are found within an atom's nucleus.
    They are thousands of times smaller than the atom itself. They have two down
    quarks and one up quark. Therefore, the neutron's charge is -1/3-1/3+2/3 =
    0.
    -15 1 1 x 10^-15 1 femtometer Proton Protons are found within an atom's nucleus.
    They are thousands of times smaller than the atom itself. They have two up
    quarks and one down quark. Therefore, the proton's charge is +2/3+2/3-1/3 =
    +1.
    -16 1 1 x 10^-16 100 attometers Lengths shorter than this are
    not confirmed.
    All the objects that are smaller than this are
    unmeasured. The sizes that they appear are only estimates. Some things, like
    quantum foam, are just hypothesized. They aren't fact.
    -17 1 1 x 10^-17 10 attometers Range of the Weak Force The weak force is one of the four fundamental
    forces of nature, and is the weaker of the two nuclear forces. As distances
    increases, its strength decreases. At just 10 attometers, the weak force is
    so weak it is unmeasurable.
    -18 1 Attometer (am) (Diameter) Attometer (am) (Diameter)
    -18 1 1 x 10^-18 1 attometer Down Quark There are six flavors of quarks. They are up,
    down, strange charm, top, and bottom. The smaller a quark is, the more mass
    it has. As a result, the up and down quarks are actually the lightest of the
    quarks. This down quark has a charge of -1/3.
    -18 1 1 x 10^-18 1 attometer Up Quark There are six flavors of quarks. They are up,
    down, strange charm, top, and bottom. The smaller a quark is, the more mass
    it has. As a result, the up and down quarks are actually the lightest of the
    quarks. This up quark has a charge of +2/3.
    -19 4 4 x 10^-19 400 zeptometers Strange Quark Strange quarks are very strange. They are 50
    times as massive as up quarks, but are still smaller! Isn't that strange?
    Very much so! "Strange matter" is made up of up, down, and strange
    quarks!
    -19 1 1 x 10^-19 100 zeptometers Charm Quark The charm quark and the strange quark are the
    second generation of matter. They will quickly decay into up and down quarks,
    which are the first generation of matter. The charm quark is charming.
    -20 3 3 x 10^-20 30 zeptometers Bottom Quark The bottom quark is also called the beauty
    quark, because it is so flawlessly beautiful. It is third generation and
    quickly decays into first generation quarks, like up and down.
    -21 1 Zeptometer (zm) (Diameter) Zeptometer (zm) (Diameter)
    -22 1 1 x 10^-22 100 yoctometers Top Quark The top quark is the smallest quark, which
    means it is the most massive. It is almost 100,000 times as massive as the up
    quark, which is the lightest of the quarks. The top quark's mass is 173
    billion electronvolts!
    -23 1 10 yoctometers 10 yoctometers
    -24 1 1 x 10^-24 1 yoctometer High Energy Neutrino Neutrinos passes through ordinary matter like
    you and me all the time! In fact, they're doing it right now! Neutrinos have
    no charge, so they are only affected by gravity and the weak force. However,
    they are so small that they are barely affected.
    -24 1 Yoctometer (ym) (Diameter) Yoctometer (ym) (Diameter)
    -25 1 0.1 yoctometers 0.1 yoctometers
    -26 1 0.01 yoctometers 0.01 yoctometers
    -27 1 0.001 yoctometers 0.001 yoctometers
    -28 1 0.0001 yoctometers 0.0001 yoctometers
    -29 1 0.00001 yoctometers 0.00001 yoctometers
    -30 1 0.000001 yoctometers 0.000001 yoctometers
    -31 1 0.0000001 yoctometers 0.0000001 yoctometers
    -32 1 0.00000001 yoctometers 0.00000001 yoctometers
    -33 1 0.000000001 yoctometers 0.000000001 yoctometers
    -34 1 0.0000000001 yoctometers 0.0000000001 yoctometers
    -35 1.6 1.6 x 10^-35 0.000000000016 yoctometers Planck Length The planck length (ℓp) is a unit of
    length. There is also a planck time, which is the amount of time it takes
    light to travel one planck length in a vacuum. (Super short!)
    -35 1 1 x 10^-35 0.00000000001 yoctometers String According to the string theory, strings are
    one-dimensional, but vibrates in all the other dimensions. This string,
    however, is not the same string that is used for flying kites. That string is
    between 10 32 and 10 33 times larger.
    Quantum Foam According to the spacetime theory, quantum
    foam, which is also known as spacetime foam, is the foundation of the fabric
    of the universe. It is impossible to directly observe or measure this because
    it is so small.